July 31, 2010

Hey everyone. Today is Senior Challenge day at Papertrey Ink. We're revisiting some oldies but goodies and this month we're focusing on Spiral Bouquet. Today I'm going to show you how to make vintage looking flocked wallpaper to use on your projects. Let's get started!

I chose the 2009 Bitty Dot Basics patterned paper in Soft Stone for my base cardstock to stamp on. The white dots resemble little flocked dots, so it's a great way to start out.I then inked up my first large image with Chartreuse ink and stamped it all over my patterned paper. Next up, I inked a smaller image with Aqua Mist ink, filling in blank spots.I chose another yet smaller image and stamped those with more Chartreuse ink. To finish off my faux wallpaper look, I stamped some small outline images with Dark Chocolate ink. The colors and patterns look very much like vintage wallpaper.

Now comes the flocking part. Using Martha Stewart flock from Michael's and a glue pen, I added flocking to the Aqua Mist images. The texture is amazing and in person it's even better!

I let my patterned paper dry for a little bit and switched gears to select some supplies for some cards.

A neat accent I like to make is adding strips of patterned paper to Saddle Stitched ribbon. It's like customized ribbon you make by yourself.Here's a shot of that flocked looking wallpaper. I got a good shot of it in the sun shining in through my Artsy Studio. So dimensional and you just resist touching it.For my finished projects, I made some pretty cards. By cutting the 8" x 8" piece of stamped paper into 4" squares, I was able to make four completed cards using the design below.The sentiments in Spiral Bouquet are quite beautiful too. I stamped them in Dark Chocolate and added Vintage Buttons tied with Brown and White Twine.I hope you enjoy! You should really try the vintage looking flocked paper. So fun!

For another look at some notebooks made with vintage looking wallpaper, check out this link:

http://michellewooderson.blogspot.com/2009/04/spring-fling.html

Be sure to check out the other Senior girls' projects using Spiral Bouquet:

July 28, 2010

Hey friends, having a great time at CHA. I've taken lots of photos so I'll be sure to share some of my favorite booths with you when I return home.

In the meantime, here's another project from this month's Papertrey release featuring Pine's new library card stamp and library pocket die. The stamp sets that have coordinating dies are so great to work with.The office supply junkie in me just loves this. Wait til next month when you see some of my office themed creations.The Carnival Ticket is from my Etsy shop....embellished with patterned paper and tied buttons.

It's going to be a big day on Thursday. Lots of set up and helping out at the PTI booth for the Super Show. Chat with ya later.

Just sharing some photos this week from this month's Papertrey release. This one is a favorite. It uses Pine's new Fillable Frame stamp set along with Betsy's new ticket stamp set. I incorporated one of my Large Manila Parcel Tags onto the card.....love this layout, I can't wait to try it out with more goodies.See ya!

July 27, 2010

Life is fun when friends get together. I'm off today to meet up with lots of friends at CHA in Chicago. It's always a good time. Lots of laughs. Lots of goofy photos.

Just like when the girls and their friends get together. Fun times in the MAC photo booth.Lots of goofy stuff and silly jokes. I usually end up wondering if someone really took that photo.....and will they dare post it on the internet for the world to see?Lots of giggles.And you get to sleep over with friends. You just want to make sure that you're not the first to fall asleep. Or you'll end up like poor Megan and wake up with Sharpie graffiti all over your face. Take note of the *loser* on the forehead......the *we love you* quotes....and the black unibrow. Gotta love that. Poor Megan didn't know what happened until she stumbled upstairs for breakfast and Eric busted out laughing at her. Josey and Lakin got her good.

If that isn't bad enough, your friends will pose with you and take photos of your newly graffiti-fied face and email the photos to all your friends.

Let's see, I need to finish packing. Yep, Sharpies are packed. Check. Did I tell you I was rooming with the lovely Dawn McVey? (insert evil grin here)

I'm off peeps. Stop by to see me at the Papertrey booth on Friday and Saturday! I'll sign my autograph on your forehead and then we can take a photo! :)

July 25, 2010

Edit: I will be back later to give a few hints on assembling your calendar....although there are no set directions. Just slap on little embellishments til your heart's content.

Also, Jordan has a new piece of artwork up in my shop now. So cute!

EDIT: Patchwork Calendar kits will be up in my Etsy shop by 10:00am. 18 kits available....get 'em while they last as this will be a one time offer. :) Also, be sure to check that your PayPal payment goes through today. Check for you final email from PayPal and you should be good to go. Orders will ship out today and first thing tomorrow morning before I leave for CHA. Any orders not paid by tonight will be relisted so that I can all shipments made....and you don't have to wait another week to get your order shipped. Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day.

Hey friends. Remember a while back I was talking about some calendars I'd have in my Etsy shop? Well, the kits will be ready for shipping tomorrow. I will have photos of the kit contents tomorrow (Monday)....but for now I have some photos of a few months of my own personal calendar.

When I get back from CHA, I am cleaning up my office and shipping space. I've been jotting down ideas and am really excited to start my project when I get back. I have some great office themed Etsy items brewing up too. In the meantime, I needed a new calendar and got great inspiration from a Somerset magazine. My end result is a month at a glance calendar that is embellished with patterned paper scraps, tags, paper doilies, Carnival Tickets and more! It's soooo fun to look at. It's artsy. It's quirky. It's cool! I've always tried to embrace a paperless calendar and I just can't do it. I love to look at a calendar and have all my dates staring back at me...and I love to tuck it in my tote and stuff all the kids' school notices, appointment cards, etc in there. I like to keep my calendars as little scrapbooks, they're great to look back at for memories. These decorated gems will be like real scrapbooks....I'm going to be sure to write more stuff in my calendars from now on.So here's a glance at the August pages. 8-1/2" x 11" size with big spaces to write in. The sidebar has a space for notes and there's more lined note pages in the back. The calendar dates July 2010 to December 2011.I have cut paper for days and days and days. The kit will contain small rectangles, die cuts, punches, tags, tickets, circles and more......over 100 pieces to get you started plus the calendar itself.Here's an idea of what I did with one of the small Manila Parcel Tags....just backed it with patterned paper, added some twine and adhered the tag string with colored masking tape.Here's my September calendar pages. Please note that the kit contents will differ from my actual calendar. Each kit varies slightly.Here's an example of how you can cut down a rectangle to small pieces if you want to add some interest.And another Parcel Tag on the sidebar. (Sorry for the less than stellar photo, my big camera is broken...I'm horrified).In the kit you'll also get a strip of Japanese masking tape that has the days of the week on it. Use the entire strip or cut up the days for fun accents. Use the smallest Parcel Tags for accents on individual days. You can purchase my small, medium and large Parcel Tags and more Carnival Tickets at my Etsy shop here.Here's what I did to decorate the outsides of my calendar. I used 2" squares of my favorite patterned papers along with a few extra finishing strips and some October Afternoon stickers. These pieces are NOT included with the kit contents....you can leave the calendar the way it is, or you can use some of your own papers to make a fun, patchwork cover.I did include a clothespin (I kinda love them) in the kit so that you can use some scraps of paper and a button from your stash to make a fun clip.These are some of the stickers from October Afternoon that I put on the front of my calendar.

I'll have more photos of the Patchwork Calendar kit tomorrow and they'll be up in the shop shortly after that. Let's get organized in style!

July 24, 2010

Hi folks, hope you're having a great weekend. Today I have a card to show you using my Friendship Jar. By simply adding the word *got* to my Pickles sentiment, I turned the pickle theme into a fun baby card, perfect for the expecting mother. Or I guess you could send this to someone who really loves pickles too. Or maybe a gardener who has canned a ton of pickles this summer. :)

I used the Friendship Jar set and all the coordinating dies to cut out the jar, the scalloped topper, the label and the jar lid. Pretty nifty, eh? I colored the pickles with my handy dandy Copic markers and then stamped a jar filler image over the top of the pickles so it would look like pickle juice is in the jar.

Two Manila Parcel Tags from my Etsyshop form a fun background on the card, using a patterned paper overlay from Library Ledger. An Aqua Mist ribbon is tied around the card front. Here are the colors I used for the pickles.

Well, I'm outta here now. We have our championship game this afternoon.....GO DIRT DIVAS!! Then maybe some swimming and then helping Josey pack for a vacation she's going on with a friend. Have a great day!!

July 22, 2010

School will be back in session before we know it. Soon after all the ballgames and vacations are over, the visions of new book bags, clothes, new classmates, sports....and a new school for us....will be upon us. I always like to send the girls off with a few fun teacher gifts on the first day of school. And I like to give my librarian and mom friends a nice little gift too. Kind of a *whew, we survived the summer* kind of gesture. :)

In my true assembly line style, I highly suggest that you take some time out of your busy summer schedule to just sit and stamp. I started my project by knowing that I wanted to make some notebooks.....but I didn't have a set design in mind. I just grabbed some products....that are so easy to coordinate with all of Papertrey's matching supplies....and just started creating.

At the front of the class are my apple doodads. So fun for front and center embellishments. Mine use a stamped dotted circle from Take Note, a felt circle, red and white twine, a Pure Poppy Vintage Button and a punched apple(Martha Stewart from Michael's). Other goodies shown below are punched and stamped circles using School Time, and some tied Vintage Chartreuse Buttons.Here I've made some wooden looking rules using It's Official on Kraft Cardstock. With a little distress ink and some Fresh Snow ink, I've added depth and dimension. Run them through the woodgrain die and you've got even more realistic looking rulers.Using my Carnival Tickets in Candied Apple and some sentiments from Take Note, I've created instant accents.The colors I used were inspired by the Beautiful Blooms papers.Once your embellishments are all complete, then it's time to assemble some notebooks. I used White Notepads and Chartreuse cardstock for my notebook covers.Then I just had fun and pieced the elements onto my notebooks in mixy matchy fashion.It's fun to make each notebook a little different.Especially if you're letting people pick out their notebook from a basket. People love to do that!Soon enough you'll have a little stack of goodies, all ready for the first day of school.Until the bell rings, happy creating!

July 21, 2010

EDIT: I'm losing it friends....my newsletter post is not tonight, it's Friday night. My calendar is all full of scribbles. So you'll have to wait til then. I'll have another goody for tomorrow. :)

Hey friends, how is your evening going? It was a busy today in the city.....haircut, a little school shopping, a little vacation shopping, lunch, etc.

For now, I'll leave you with my latest Pretty Place Setting that is up in my Etsy shop now. It's a darling little ensemble for two place settings, all in buttercup yellow theme. I set the stage on my back deck. Can you believe I got this table and two white chairs for a buck? Yep, no one bid on it so I went back and offered one dollar. It's so adorable and shabby, don't you think?

This Pretty Place Setting has a very nice tablecloth with two embroidered baskets with yellow circle flowers and yellow ribbon accents. Pristine work here.There are two placemats in a buttery yellow colors along with two white cotton napkins. I thought this went great with some of my dishes.Also, accompanying the place settings is this fancy little handkerchief and a creamy white and yellow potholder. Use is for it's intended use or place it under a water pitcher or vase of flowers for a pretty accent.Here's an idea...use tin jello molds and custard cups to serve little salads or desserts. So cute!A placemat provides such a nice little area to situate all the dinnerware. I should use them more often.A cozy little spot for two. Perfect for tea and cookies.....coffee and dessert.....a brunch or lunch. Oh how I wanted to have someone over for lunch after I had this all set up.A nice little view for two.Pretty Little Place Setting comes tied up with buttery yellow Wrinkle Ribbon, two parcel tags, an October Afternoon stick and a vintage button.All ready for gift giving...or keep it all for yourself. And then invite me over. :) Enjoy!